The Canon situation could swing both ways yet but early signs aren’t encouraging. They have already made some NAB product announcements, nothing earth shattering, a new zoom servo lens for broadcast being the highlight. There has been no further info about the rumoured C200 and C400. For 4K the C500 is now looking somewhat dated vs the Sony F55 and Panasonic VariCam 35 when it comes to 4K. Both the C500 and 1D C have recently had price drops. Is this a sign Canon have acknowledged they are weakly specced vs the 2014 competition or a sign that new stuff is imminent at NAB? Let’s hope it is the latter. As for their low end, what a total mess as always. Why continue to shoot 5 year vintage footage on consumer Canon DSLRs now the Panasonic GH4 and upcoming Sony A7S give us image quality in a completely different league? Magic Lantern have been keeping the flame alive with raw and still a lot of great work is shot on DSLRs but I have the feeling shooters are beginning to want more. More resolution, smaller file sizes, more features, mirrorless form factor, less aliasing and moire.

If the A7S ends up shooting 4K on a full frame sensor, Canon definitely need an answer to protect 5D Mark III sales. I can use all my Canon L glass on the Sony E-mount. The Panasonic GH4 is more of a niche as it appeals less to 5D Mark III users due to the lack of proper EF mount adapters and 2x crop sensor, but in video terms Canon don’t have an answer to this either yet. The 1D C is still $10,000 even after the price drop.